Love of an Angel
by XDTexesToastXD
Summary: Misty and Brock find theirselves fitting the pieces of the puzzle together. Only thing is, this puzzle is going to help them figure out what really happened at the Pallet river, the day they lost their bestfriend. Rated T to be safe.Gymshipping
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I kind of just thought of this story as I fell asleep one night. It's kind of like Elizabeth Chandler's 'Kissed by an Angel'. But prepare for tears. Um, and I didn't think I had enough details before, so I'm rewriting. So don't be surprised when you sen that my original two chapters are made into four.

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_Flashback:_

"Ash" she was able to get out between gasps of laughter. He quickly got several friendly squeals out of her.

He continued to toss her lightly through the green grass next to a checker picnic blanket. "Oh, Misty-Lou, I choose you." He then rolled on his knees over her, with both hands on either sides of her head.

"Ash Ketchum, that was the worst pick up line I have ever heard."

"You are right, but this line will never fail" there was a pause while he gazed into her aqua eyes and she gazed into his. "I love you", he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips.

The redhead pushed against his chest, breaking the kiss, "okay, never mind. _That_ is the cheesiest line I have ever heard."

The Ketchum gave her a disappointed look. He was sure that she would get all gushy over those words. As these thoughts ran through his head, he didn't even notice the female grabbing his arms, and thrusting him to the side. She was now above him, her eyes gleaming into his once again "But oddly enough, I think I am crazy enough to fall for it."

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That glorious picnic in the meadow, was a week before Misty Waterflower found herself shedding a unwanted tear in a graveyard near Pallet. There lie on a brown casket, was a bright red rose that was previously set down by said female. But why think back on the romantic memory now, you ask? Well, there is no need to explain the painful stinging in her heart, knowing that the man in said memory, was the very same man lying in the casket before her.

Starting around noon that day, it would have been exactly two entire years of dating. This 'dating' thing started at one of Gary Oak's bar parties. Lets just say they got a little drunk and had a little peck. Okay, so they had to say that they were completely _wasted, _and they ended up making out. Of coarse, they didn't remember the next day, so nothing felt weird until they ran into Gary later that day. He laughed and told them about their little affair the night before and Misty was ready to clobber him. Accept, Ash stopped her and asked her out. She was about to question this, but the man interrupted by saying that the kiss couldn't of been just because of the alcohol, right?

Misty went through these memories over and over. Perhaps, there was a minute when she didn't think of the heartbreaking news she received four days before:

XXxxXX

_Flashback:_

It started and almost ended as a ordinary day. After going through her daily routine that included battling gym challengers, feeding and caring for the pokemon, and telling a annoying child that the gym was not a public pool, she thought she would able to just lounge around the house for the rest of the night. Little did she know, that there would be no time for that.

The Waterflower was just ready to sit down and rest her aching feet when a ringing went through her ears. _'It's probably just a late challenger' _she thought and plopped down onto the aqua coloured loveseat.

"_Zrrrrrrr, Zrrrrrrr."_

"Ugh" she scoffed and stood up. Luckily, she usually only had one or two late trainers a week, but no one was ever this stubborn. Her feminine hand gripped around the door knob and she opened it.

Misty's mouth quickly dropped when she saw an older women in her door way, her eyes flooded with tears. "Delia" she shouted before grabbing her hand softly, "what's wrong." This couldn't be good. Misty never saw her boyfriend's mother in tears, what could possibly make her so upset?

"Oh, Misty" she wailed between sobs, "Officer Jenny came over saying that a fisherman found him in the river and pulled him out. He wasn't breathing, sweetie."

Misty cringed at the women calling her 'sweetie' as if she was a little girl needing to be comforted. Who was she talking about anyway, not like Misty new anyone that would ever be near a river, unless-that thought stopped as she remembered Ash telling her about his plans, the morning before. He was going to train his water pokemon over at the Pallet river. "Dalia?"

The brunette threw her arms around the redheads, "yes, sweetie, Ash is gone."

No tears ran down Misty's face as her heart stopped beating, and she didn't hug the women back. She stood in the doorway staring into complete space. Her father died before her birth, her mother died when Misty was only a couple months old, but neither of these losses would compare to this one."

XXxxXX

She learned later that day that it was simply an accident. Apparently, some sort of water pokemon used a whirlpool attack in Ash's presence and he was sucked into the rushing water. Then, due to a lack of oxygen, he drowned. It pained Misty to imagine the incident.

"Misty" she heard a sweet, but quiet voice question her.

"Huh", the redhead slowly turned around to look at a middle age women in a black funeral dress. Beside her was her tall, dark, friend Brock glancing at her sympathetically. Misty felt a some sort of warm liquid going down her cheek, but then she realised she was crying again. With her realisation, she tried to wipe the tear off without the others noticing. As if it mattered, though. Delia's usual warm soft cheeks, had dried tears pasted them. "He-hey."

Misty changed her focus to Brock, who, surprisingly, looked some what strange. His eyes draped down as usual and his hair was spiky like always. The difference from any other day, was that the end of his lips sadly curled downward. The former gym leader usually had a gigantic smile upon his face. It was quite awkward to whiteness a frown. Then again, it would not be surprising that he was just as hurt as the females around him.

The Ketchum must have noticed Misty's tension towards her friend. "Misty, do you think you would be able to help Brock and I clean out Ash's apartment? I relly don't think I would be able to do it on my own." The man glared at his friend's mother as if he was shocked about her invitation.

The younger female bit her bottom lip. _If I go, it could bring back bad memories, _she shook off that thought. How could she just think about her own feelings. _Get over it, Misty, you have to overcome this sooner or later, you know. "_Uh sure" she busted without really thinking.

Delia attempted to smile, but her mouth stayed strait. "Thank you, Misty. Really."

"N-no problem" was all she was able to say, before she noticed Delia staring at her son's casket again, as if no one was there. As much as Misty wanted to only pity herself, she knew that she had to do something to comfort the other women. "Delia, I am-"

"No need for apologies, darling" Delia interrupted. "As long as I know great kids like you and Brock to help an old women like me, everything will be okay, right?"

"I guess so."

"" Misty moved her sight over to Brock who finally spoke. "Can I have a few words with you ….. _alone." _the water trainer glared at her friend as he said the very deep toned 'alone'. _It's nothing_, she thought, _maybe he just has something private to tell her. _

"Soon, soon, Brock. Right after I am done my conversation with Mist-"

"It's okay" the redhead quickly intruded. "I should be going anyway. Thanks for everything." The older women look concerned, but she ignored it. Instead she shifted a little more towards Ash Ketchum's new casket. Shedding another tear she mutter to herself, "good bye Ash. I-I love you." Her eyelids dropped thinking that this could be her last time speaking to him, but graciously walked in the direction of her car, shortly after. The thing is, that deep inside, that tear was wasted on Brock because of his words.

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Brock waited until his redheaded friend was close enough to her car to speak to the female Ketchum. "Delia, I really don't think it is a good idea for Misty to come."

"Brock, I know it hurts, but this will be for the best."

He glared into her brown eyes, ", you may not know this, but Ash did tell me that-"

"I know he told you. Let us just hope that she doesn't find _it. _But, you should want your friend to figure it out on her own. I believe she does deserve to know the truth."

XXxxXX

Author's Note: Well there is the first new and approved chapter. I know it is short, but really, what could I do. I am not really that great at writing yet. Ugh, it is horrible isn't it. Damn … Stupid principal. Anyway, please, please, please tell me what you think, because I think this could actually have a great storyline. I thought of the end, and it is pretty epic in my mind. So … ya.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Hey, this is the second chapter of the new and approved story. I am sorry for the wait, but you see, I have three activities to do mostly all week. Not including school, I have a lead role in a play, volleyball, and my friends and I recently started to write a school news paper and I am the main journalist. So, no that you know, please let me take my time with this story unless you want to read crap. Thank you!

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"Hmph." he quietly grunted, as he struggled to open his eyes with such a bright hot light hovering him. It couldn't possibly be from the sun reflecting through class, and it was most defiantly not from any normal light bulb. A light shade of light blue finally came into his sight. '_Huh_' he thought, '_the sky? Why would I- ugh!' _It felt like a thousand needles had made contact with his skull.

'_Ash, what is wrong with you' _he asked himself, struggling to rotate his head to the side. "Grass?" the man whispered, glaring at the green ground. '_I must be outside, but why?' _He shifted one arm beneath his body and pushed up into a sitting position, with his other hand cradling his stinging head.

The Ketchum tried to go over his previous steps in his head. Memories trembled throughout his mind painfully.

XXxxXX

_Flashback:_

"Ok guys, I think we have done enough for today" the pokemon master announced as returned his Staraptor that was very close to fainting.

"Chaa." A cute little yawn came out of his little yellow companion. Pikachu began to wobble between his to petite paws and sighed, "Pika … chu."

"Whoa, little guy" Ash shifted his pokemon into his arms. "We sure did work hard today, huh? But that's okay, Misty promised that she would have a gourmet feast on her kitchen table when we got to her place."

"Pika?" the mouse sat up in it's trainer's arms. Excitement ran to his cheeks and made tiny sparks.

Ash laughed. "Ya, ya. I guess this is the day. I can see you are just as jittery as I am."

"Chu!" Pikachu screeched, struggling to escape from the human's arms. "Pika!"

"Huh? Pikachu?" he questioned at the pokemon's sudden urge. "I am the one who is supposed to be worried. You don't have to go nuts on me and I swear, I will not make an excuse this time."

"Chaa" it squealed, breaking free and landing on the forest grass. Quickly, he came to Ash's leg and tugged on the loose jeans.

"Nu, uh. I'm not picking you up again, after that fiasco. I deserve better than that behaviour and you know it." Pikachu tugged again. "I am serious-"

"_Brrrrrooooooorrrrrrrrrrr_!"

A worried smile grew upon the trainers face. "A, uh, what was that" his head slightly shifted to the river where the deep roar came from.

Scales of an aqua coloured reptile emerged from the crashing waves. Next, came a large turtle head with an awkward red mark on the side of it's head. Ash squinted at this, but shuttered in fear as the figure grew larger, "Brroooooooorrrrrr!" Two pumps from the pokemon shifted towards Ash.

"Pikachu, you don't think?" He quivered close to the electric mouse.

His eyes bulged up at his trainer. "_Chuu-"_

"Brrrrooooorrrr!" Before the Ketchum was able to move, cold water blasted from the grey pumps.

The liquid hit him hard, almost impossible to bear. He called out for his pokemon, "Pikachu-" the water began to cover more of his body. _That Blastoise shouldn't be able to do that attack much longer, _he told himself in his mind, _I just have to put up a little longer._ The aqua blast pushed him up to a tree.

"Bastoooooise" the pokemon growled. Ash felt the water twisting clockwise as it slowly eased up. Blastoise had now turned it's attack into a whirlpool. He tried to hold his breath as the whirlpool sucked him off the ground and left him struggling in the attack. _Erg, come Ash. Hold up until Blastoise gets tired. _He clenched his palm to his heart and held tightly at the pain. No one would believe it, but he felt his lungs shrivel up at the lack of oxygen.

The water calmed down. The Ketchum stared into the clear water around him. So calm, so beautiful. He let his breath go as his world faded into darkness.

XXxxXX

"All that happened, huh?", he asked himself out loud. He sighed as he stood up, "and I am still alive. Another close one, huh, Pikachu?"

There was only silence.

Ash looked around him. "Ugh" he grunted, noticing that he was speaking to himself. Damn it! He really didn't want to look for his pokemon at the moment. The trainer shifted his arm to his side, "Oh well, I will just send Staraptor out to find- huh?" His arm glided through his side. Okay … maybe he was still unconscious … or maybe even dunk. Honestly, he would believe any excuse, as long as that didn't actually happen.

"Ahh" he yelped, looking back down and realising what he was wearing. On his body, was a sheet of white. You could call it a silk robe, if you didn't want to admit that he was wearing a long gown that reached a couple inches below his knees.

He tremble at the recent events. _What if-No! I will not believe that. _He observed his surroundings, _I have to find someone. Ya, find someone, _he thought before sprinting north to Pallet.

His body swiftly ran through leafy trees and bushes, trying to reach his home town. It was if his legs didn't move fast enough, for his liking. That's when Pallet's Burial Grounds came into sight. He had passed this area many times before and continued to run. He had almost passed the metal fence that made a perimeter around it when a blur of brown and pink came into sight. Why the hell would there be pink in a graveyard? Plus, that shade of pink couldn't be any flower Ash had ever seen.

Ash froze and took a couple steps back to see what the object was. That's when he saw a girl a year younger, or possibly older than him. A brunette that kind of looked like May, slouched up against the front of a tombstone. Really, how insensitive could you be to lay on a dead person's grave. Sure, Ash wasn't that sensitive himself, but this was plain rude. Get off that person's grave" he busted out, without thinking.

The girl glanced up at Ash and smirked. "About time you got here, oh chosen one." She then stood up, her white gown blowing with the wind.

'Bout time he got there? Oh, chosen one? What the hell was wrong with this chick. Instead up saying anything, he waited for an explanation. A confused look grew upon his face.

Her eyebrows narrowed down at his reaction. "Ash? Oh, jeez. You don't remember me, do ya? I can't believe you don't remember me. I mean, you'd think that someone would remember you after they saved the world over by the Orange Islands."

Wait! Long brown hair that went down the sides like his formal traveling partner, May? That voice? Orange Islands and chosen one? No it couldn't be-

"That's right, it's me: Melody. And you are Ash: the cute one that the carrot top used to go gaga over."

"Melody? What the hell are you doing in Kanto? And better yet, what are you doing lying on a grave?" he asked. He stretched his arms out for a hug, but fell right through the girl. Ok, he was still dreaming.

She turned around and glared at the man on the ground, in front of the tombstone. "I'm here ,partly, so I can teach you the difference between solid objects and spirits, so that doesn't happen again. But I am mostly here, to teach you about this 'angel' business."

"Angel business? Spirits? Melody, what the hell are you talking about?" he said as he lifted his body off of the soft ground. He hadn't noticed before. But this grave must have been new. There was grounded up dirt everywhere and there wasn't grass grown yet.

"You don't know? But haven't you- oh. You must have just woke up recently so you haven't realised it yet"

He was now on his knees, "realise what?"

She sighed, "dude. You just fell right though me. Really, there is only one explanation for that."

"Well, right now, I think I'm dreaming."

"Ash, you are not dreaming. Look in front of you."

He glance up at the tombstone:

**Ash Ketchum**

**1987-2012**

**Passed young, but loved by all.**

He stuttered at the writing engraved on the stone. "I-I'm de-dead?"

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Author's Note: Finally! Finished! I am so so so so so amazingly sorry for the wait.

Please review, alert, favourite, whatever. It makes me write quicker.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: This story doesn't have much popularity yet, but THANK YOU AKETCHUM01 FOR the support. But come on people, take this story and my sasusaku story and what do you see? Even if I edit Personality Changes, it will never be as good as this one is. Personality Changes SUCKS! Anyway, to get away from the stupid stuff, enjoy the chapter!

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"I-I'm de-dead?" he could only stutter. He drifted his eyes over the writing once again, only to have the same reaction.

Melody rolled her eyes at this, "about time you figured it out." She leaned against the man's tombstone. "You were found dead four days ago", she said, acting as if this happened all of the time.

"Four days ago!" he trembled at the news and stood up. "How could I be dead? I mean, I am still in Pallet! I am talking to you and you are answering back! There is no way-" he began flinging his arms.

"Whoa, Ash! I know it's confusing at first, but you don't have to freak out on me!" she interrupted with a shout. "Stay calm. Everything would be okay" she grabbed Ash's hands and put them to his sides slowly.

He let out a deep breath. "How do you know everything will be okay," he clenched his fists, as he yelled. "I have no idea what is going on!"

"You never do ….. At first anyway," she lowered her eyes. "I am dead too, that's why you can talk to me."

The Ketchum only gazed at her and said nothing. She shook her head and continued, "It happened a long time ago. No big deal."

"No big deal? How could that ever be 'no big deal'?"

She shrugged, "I was out boating and, well, a storm came in. I was far from shore and the wind was blowing the wrong way. So, I pulled what I thought was the correct rope and it turns out it wasn't. The boat flipped and, well, that is when I saw an angel coming in my direction." For some strange reason, Ash saw I miniature smile curl up on Melody's lips.

"Melody, I'm so-"

"Stop it!" Melody spat.

The trainer turned to her confused, "huh?"

"Stop with all the pity," she scolded, staring into his eyes. "It is useless to feel sorry for anything. Why can't we just learn something and move on?"

"Fine. I won't say sorry, but answer me this," he said narrowing his eyebrows, "what do you mean, you saw an angle coming toward you?"

"Ugh, it is so annoying teaching newbie's!" Melody rolled her eyes, brushing off her sorrow. "You see," she sighed as if it would be difficult to explain, "Right before you die, you see a bright blurry light. This light is an angel that is coming to put you to rest and bring your soul up to the magical cloudy place that few of us have the honor to come to. To come to heaven, your soul must believe in great things." She snickered, "I have no idea how I ended up there."

Ash reached out and placed his hand onto the female's shoulder, only for it to drift magically through. He sighed in annoyance, but continued. "Melody, you have done great things."

"Oh," she began sarcastically. "And what might that be?"

"Melody, you helped me with the Lugia-chosen one fiasco! Doesn't that count for something?"

"Ugh," she grunted. "Ya, sure, whatever. Can we get back to my explanation?"

The Ketchum opened his mouth to reply; then shut it. He nodded; signaling his friend to go on.

"Okay," she said smiling. Melody had finally got her way. "The reason why the angel has the responsibility to release your soul is for such a stupid excuse," her voice rose slightly. "God acts like this angel did something that is horrible and calls it 'community service'. I don't see what's wrong with coming down to earth without permission and accidentally causing my sister to lose her adorable fiancée." Ash glared. "What? I honestly don't see what's so bad about it!"

"Melody-"

The female crossed her arms and sighed, "Okay, I admit it. It was wrong."

"I wasn't going to tell what you did wrong. I was going to ask you something."

"Oh," she flatly understood. Melody pushed herself off the gravestone; trying to change her posture. Anyone could tell that she regretted telling her friend why she was there with him. 'uh, what do you want to ask?"

He scratched the back of his jet black hair, "well, I was wondering. Um, I never actually saw a bright light, so, uh, what wrong with me?"

"Are you serious?"

"Huh?"

Melody opened her hands widely at the masters stupid question. She asked, "Was that seriously your question? A slowpoke could figure that out."

Ash sat up as his reaction to her insulting comment. "Well, sorry, but I have only been an angle for four days. And I was knocked out for three quarters of it."

She shrugged, "touché." She looked away onto the burial grounds gates, where two birds went over a quarrel.

"Uh, aren't you going to answer my question?"

"What question?" Melody glance back once again, only for Ash glared back. "Oh right, that question." Melody sighed, as she cradled her skull in the palm of her soft hand, only to see it to drift through the her, again. "Huh? You never get over that," she said, ignoring the question once again.

"Move on," the man intrigued.

The brunette sighed, "Can you be patient for a few seconds?" The Ketchum nodded and she did the same once he was finished. Melody continued, "You see, apparently, I appeared late, so I actually found you when you were already dead. It wasn't my fault; I wanted to mess with Tracey before I came. It turns out, I was having such a fun time fooling with him, that I lost track of time."

"Okay, that answers that question. But, now I have another one. I understand that you were late, but still, why am I not in heaven by now?"

"Ugh," she grunted. "You would have been, if your soul wasn't being so stubborn."

"What?"

"What?" she shrugged her shoulders upwards? "I tried to release your soul, but it wouldn't come out. So, I gave up and came here to wait for you, so I could tell you this stupid speech. And here we are."

"Ya, but-"

"But, what?" Melody interrupted. "On second thought, don't answer that. I know what you are going to ask. Why couldn't my soul come out, right?" Ash nodded. Melody continued, "Well, apparently, you aren't done on earth yet."

The newbie shook his head, "but that doesn't make sense. I'm dead. I shouldn't need to do anything more." His friend shrugged and shifted her head into another direction. _Well, if I do still need to accomplish something on earth, _he thought, _what could it possibly be? _"Bingo!"

"Huh," the brunette brought her attention back to the man.

His smile gleamed, "its Misty, or my mom!" He sprinted over and placed both hands on either side of Melody's shoulders. "I need to tell them-"his eagerness suddenly dropped below the happy radar. Sagging, his elbows, Ash whispered to himself, "Misty …. Mom …"

"Huh," for once, Melody showed concern, "Ash, are you okay-"

"If I am vanished from their lives, how do they feel?"

The women softly breathed out at his question. "I haven't ever been good at reading faces, or even speech, for that matter. I was at your funeral, though. All I know is that they really cared about you, and they always will."

Ash sighed as his eyelids drooped down. "That must be what I have to do. Mom already knows how much I cared for her, but I have to tell Misty that I love her."

Melody's mouth opened wide, as she pushed the man's hands off of her gown. She changed back into her obnoxious self. "Yes, Romeo, that is what everybody thinks. Sure, we can do that to but-" her words stopped.

"Melody?"

She shook her head back into reality. "Oh, crap. Oh, crap, crap, crap. This cannot be happening."

The master gave her a muddled expression.

"I can't believe he tricked me. God is getting back at me for that prank I put on him on April 1st. He is such a sore loser." Thunder cracked in the sky. "Oops, I really didn't mean to say that. Sorry!" she yelled into the sky.

"What the hell is going on?" Ash asked, observing the sky.

"I was being stupid, and now, I am probably in even more trouble."

"No, I meant before."

"Oh right," she said. "Um, well here is the hard part that you most likely don't want to hear."

"Yes I do."

"Uh, well," she cradled the back of her head with her left palm. "You see, we might be stuck on earth that I thought we would. Um, because I just remembered the actual reason your soul wanted to stay on earth for."

"Go on," he intrigued.

"Well, you are defiantly not here for your whole 'love' quest. The only reason why anybody's soul stays on earth is because, um-"

"Spit it out!"

She clenched her eyelids and fists shut. "Ash, you were murdered!"

If this were a movie, I think this is where the threat music would go 'dun, dun ….. Dun!'

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Author's Note: ooh, look at me. I'm done the horror chapter. When I first wrote this, it was only a page and a half. Well guess what. Including this note, IT IS FOUR PAGES! … anyhoo, the school play is done, so I have more time for writing. *crowd goes wild*

Anyway, please review, favourite, alert, whatever.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Woo! Woo! I am in a good mood right now and it is perfect for writing! But jeez …. When will I get to the fun stuff? It is all depressing that and all 'cry-cry' this. Sigh, where's the laughter, and Misty beating up people? Oh well, at least I get to write a chapter with my favourite character in the world again. MISTY! Boo ya! So … ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

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His manly fingers tremble when he touched Ash's belongings. When he viewed the many framed photographs on his large wooden dresser, Brock glowered. Most frames held photos of Misty, but some included other friends, as well as Ash and himself. Though, one certain picture gleamed brighter out of the rest. It was back in the day, when all three of them: Ash, Misty, and him, were all traveling together. Ash was on the outside left, him sheepishly grinning as Pikachu attempted to steal his pokemon league hat. Typical. Then Misty stood strait in the middle, cradling Togepi in her left arm and poking out a peace sign with her right hand. Of course, then there was Brock on the outside right. Oh, how he remembered that day. While Vulpix snuggled against his legs, he laughed, watching Ash struggle on the other side of their female friend. That is where his smile came from. In fact, he had forgotten there was even a camera around until Delia shown him the photo, later on.

They seemed so happy in that photo. There really wasn't much to worry about back then. Think about it. Misty and he had to blame Ash for their sudden friendship. If it wasn't for him, Misty would have eventually went straight back to Cerulean on her new bike and never have any fun for the rest of her life, whatsoever. And if Ash hadn't inspired Brock to leave the gym, they wouldn't have traveled together.

And now, they could never fool around and laugh together again.

"Brock?" he heard that sweet, middle aged women call his name. "Could you come here for a second?"

"Ya, sure," the man replied. There was one thing he didn't understand, and that is how Delia's voice could stay so steady and firm. After all, she was going through all of her dead son's belongings. Though, she _did_ also go through the pain, when her husband left.

Brock picked himself off from his knees and walked out of Ash's bed room. Now, standing in the kitchen, he glanced at the older women. She held her chin between the thumb and index finger, as she observed the surface on top of an old refrigerator. Delia shook her head, "it's up there. It is some sort of jewellery; could it be?"

"Maybe," he guessed, "Ash never actually showed me it before." The breeder walked closer and reached for the shiny object. He shivered when he gripped and retrieved the cold piece of gold. Now lay in his hand was a ring that he eyed carefully. He shrugged, "Well, it _is _a ring," Brock handed it to the lady, "but, I believe it is yours."

Delia's eyes widened as she glared at the band astonished. "Oh," she rolled it around in her palm, "I must have forgotten it here one day. But, I was so sure that it would be the one Ash bought.

A thud came from the front of the apartment. Both people glanced toward the doorway of the porch that went to the outside.

Finally, a redhead walked into the awkward kitchen. Her eyelids draped down when she gawked at the other two. She greeted, "hey."

Delia and Brock stood silently. Brock had clearly remembered Delia locking the front door behind her when they arrived. Although, he still didn't seem to understand the point of this. After all, who would try to break into an apartment with people inside?

"Ash gave me a key a few months ago," she looked over to Delia, "so; I kind of let myself in. I didn't know if you two were here yet."

"Oh," Delia said, as she reached out her palm where Misty handed over the key. "Thank you, Misty."

The red head sighed and leaned against the surface of her deceased boyfriend's kitchen table, "So, what do you want me to do?"

Delia, who was still gazing at the key, finally snapped out of her trance. She gripped the key between her fingers and brought her attention back to Misty's question. "Uh, you can help Brock with the bedroom."

The gym leader shrugged, "sure thing," as she reached for a cardboard box that sat on the table.

"You won't need that," Brock stopped Misty from grabbing the box. "There are some extra boxes in the room."

Misty slowly brought back her hand and followed Brock into the familiar bedroom. She saw Brock nudge his shoulder toward the bed where a good sized cardboard box sat. The red head picked it up off of the sheets, but stayed there. Unsure where to start cleaning up, she asked, "Brock?"

"That drawer," he said flatly. Once again he nudged in the direction where he wanted him to go.

She followed his nudge to Ash's Poke gear drawer. It was too easy to know what was in there. Misty remembered how Ash would constantly open the drawer which exposed around fifty poke balls that had their own advantages. Some of them must have been around twenty years or even older. Most of them, he collected during his journeys, but never told a soul. Misty was the only person Ash had ever confided in about his collection.

Well, that secret would no longer be a secret. She knew Ash wouldn't care, though. So, she collapsed to her knees with the box and pulled open the drawer.

As she expected, minimized poke balls filled the space of over half of the area. The other three fourths of the area had various pokedexs from different regions and other poke gear neatly stacked. "So," she began. It wasn't so easy to go through Ash's belongings. Perhaps, if she spoke with Brock, her thoughts would only stay focussed on the conversation. Misty continued, "Um, did you guys ever find Pikachu?"

It was odd. The fisherman that found Ash hadn't seen Pikachu around the same area. In fact, he hadn't seen him at all and because of this, rumours started spreading around Pallet Town. Then, they started spreading further and further. Eventually, the rumours had spread throughout Kanto. Who really knows how far the words actually went. Misty started to wish that Ash wasn't the most popular pokemon master around. After all, if he was not a master, then the rumour would still be in Pallet.

Some thought Pikachu just simply ran away. Others assumed that he was also sucked into to the river and drowned. Few even thought that Pikachu was found by a trainer and captured for their selves. Misty didn't believe any of these words. Pikachu would never run away. He was too important to everyone to die along with his trainer. And for the last rumour, Pikachu was to witty and strong to be foolishly captured by a trainer.

"No," Brock said. He shook his head, "Pikachu never showed up anywhere, so we thought he could have been lost in the forest. We sent Tailow and Staraptor to search from the sky and sent most of Ash's other pokemon to search from the ground-"

"And they found nothing," she guessed.

"Nothing," the man repeated. Both of the friends lowered their eyelids and stared down at their drawers.

The red head took a handful of different coloured poke balls and threw them into the box that sat on her lap. "To bad," she grabbed another handful, "I thought he would like Delia's home, or the Lab. Whichever place Pikachu was going to go."

Brock glanced back at Misty, as he folded a red T-shirt. Her lips remained in an emotionless strait line. Her eyes glued onto the poke gear in front her. Brock could never imagine what she was thinking at the moment. Misty must have been worried, but mad because Pikachu could have received the same fate as Ash. He believed this was just the right time….

"Mist-"

"I'm fine, Brock" she interrupted before he could get the subject across. "You don't have to worry."

He was taken back at this statement. "Actually, I was going to keep my mouth shut about your behaviour, but it is nice to know." He sighed and leaned back against Ash's bed, "I was actually going to ask you about Saturday."

The women grunted and moaned, "Brock, I know you want to cheer me up, but I don't know. Where are you going with this?"

He laughed, as he scooted up beside her and shifted to his knees. Remember what he was going to ask, he rubbed the smirk off his face and gazed into Misty's aqua eyes. "Mist, you aren't the only one who is depressed-"

"I am not depressed," she added.

Brock sighed, "Fine, you are not depressed, but I have read your gym leader stats on the internet for the past week." The man placed his right hand on her should, but she kept her eyes glued to the three poke balls she had just placed in the box. "You should still be the top gym leader in Kanto, but you lost every match this week. Now, Blaine has taken first again."

She turned her head and stared at Brock through his eyes. It was true; Misty hadn't beaten one trainer that week. She would be confident when the battle began, but then the trainer would call out to their pokemon, and Misty would get distracted, think that the voice came from Ash. "You are not making me feel any better by putting me down. I know that I haven't been doing my best this week."

"I know, but I am getting to the cheering up part. I haven't had the best week either."

She looked back into the box as she placed Ash's first pokedex in there. "What could that possibly be? Not like you still own you family's gym."

"No," he said matter-of-factly, "but I haven't been able to hit on a girl for a week. Do you know how bad that is? Every time I go past a hot girl, I say something really stupid." The redhead gave him the 'no shit' glare, "no, I mean really stupid," there came that glare again. "Okay! Now you aren't helping!"

She sighed, "Sorry. Continue?"

The man smirked, "thank you, Misty. " He took his hand off her shoulder and stood up. "Anyway, I think that we both need a little cheering up, don't you?" He didn't let her answer, "So I think we should have a fun day on Saturday."

Misty asked, "And what are we supposed to do? If you want to do anything on a Saturday, you have to plan a week ahead."

"No you don't," he stated, leaning against the dresser, "You want to know why?" Misty nodded. "Well, 'cause I happen to have a night pass to this new strip bar in Pewter" he smirked, "you will like it. It is full of aquariums."

Misty's mouth hung open at his plans. She lifted herself onto her feet, shifted toward Brock and began to swing her arm, "Brock! You are such a-"

He caught her fist with his palm and laughed, "A jerk? Ya, I know, but I was kidding Mist. You can stop freaking out," he laughed even harder. Although, he was also holding in a moan from the pain he received from the punch, even if he caught it. "I just wanted you to act like yourself for a moment."

"Hn," she grunted, bringing back her fist. She couldn't believe that she was fooled by one of her friend's stupid tricks. "Moron…." She said underneath her breath.

Brock shook his head at her annoyed tone, while he continued to smile. "Okay, no more tricks. Here comes the real news.

The red head curiously looked up at him.

"Okay, do you know about the new water park outside of Cerulean?" She nodded. Brock reached into his back pocket and pulled out to pieces of coloured paper with little words printed on them. "Well, I just happen to have free day tickets for Saturday."

Ignoring her anger, Misty rushed over and grabbed the tickets out of his hand and gazed at them. "Where did you get these? Do you know how expensive they are?"

Brock snickered to himself, "do you remember when you were out of town and you asked me to check your mail?"

"Ya."

He placed both hands in either pocket, "well, I found those tickets in your mailbox. Apparently, the park sent them to you free because of you being a water trainer and Cerulean City's gym leader." He shrugged, "I took them in case I got a date with a girl."

Misty's skin shaded as red as her hair, just before she pounded Brock's stomach by his surprise. "Stupid idiot …." She went back to the drawer and knelt back down. She picked up a love ball.

This was where she froze. Misty had never seen a love ball in his collection before. In fact, she remembered him ranting on about how love balls were pathetic and useless and how he would never buy one. She pressed the center button which opened it.

"Hey, this idiot is bringing you to a water park!" he laughed, slowly moving his eyesight toward her. "But I can understand why you would be a little-"

His words stopped when his eyes met Misty. She sat there holding the open love ball. Inside, rolled a small gold band with a diamond sitting on the top. "What is this?" she whispered to herself, picking up the ring inside. She held it close to her face when she noticed a small engraving inside. Misty whispered out the words she read, "T-to my dearest Misty. Please, be mine, f-forever…."

Brock swore under his breath as he kneeled beside Misty. Ash had confided in Brock a month before that he was going to ask Misty to marry him. That ring was what he searched for. He would do anything, only to make sure Misty never found out about the proposal-to-be.

"Ash, "Misty whispered, falling into Brocks arms. "He was going to propose?" the tears streamed down what was her beautiful face. All Brock was able to do was hold her….

XXxxXXxxXX

Authors note: Ha! I fooled you! Just when everybody thinks everything is fine again, bam! Misty finds the ring! Haha, sorry. Although, you have to admit, that chapter was an upside.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Okay, I have a feeling that this will be a long chapter ….

XXxxXXxxXX

"Brock, I swear to god!" the redhead screamed as her friend pulled on her wrist. Now she realised, today wasn't the best day to wear her turquois ballet flats without any grip on the bottom. "You are not taking me on there and that's period! Got it?"

The two friends arrived at the water park only minutes before Misty got up raged. Like any normal day at an amusement park, the pathways were packed with people of all ages, and a tasty aroma of cotton candy filled the air in all areas. Everyone there for a different reason; mostly because they wanted to be there. Then there was Misty who, which case, would now rather be risking her life trying to feed her hungry Gyarados at home.

Brock laughed, "Mist, you never told me you were scared of roller coasters." He knew it was wrong to tease her, and he would probably pay for it later. But Misty was acting quite normal. Brock's definition of Misty's normal, anyway. That is all Brock had been asking for during the past week and a half.

"And this is why!" she pointed with her free hand to Brock's palm that fastened onto her petite wrist.

"I don't see what's so bad about me dragging you through the park," he relaxed the tension between the two's arms that stretched from the tugging.

Misty rolled her eyes and took a step closer, bringing her lips close to his left ear.

The older man shivered. Misty's breath on his ear was so light and warm. It made the rest of his body feel like an icicle, even in the warm and bright weather. It felt nice. Very nice. She started with a whisper, "I never told you," her soft voice became into a very loud scolding, "because you will _never_ let me live it down!" Brock received a cold bop on the head from the women's free hand."

"Ow!" he exclaimed, holding his aching ear that was pierced from the sudden yell. His head also throbbed, but he didn't dare take the risk of Misty screaming in his ear again. So much for softness on her breath, "What was that for?"

A small smirk curled up onto her lips. Avoiding Brock's question she said, "So, the Ferris Wheel it is?"

Minutes later, Brock had leaded Misty into an extended line that went on forever. Luckily, Brock had bought a chocolate ice cream cone on the way there, so he had something to munch on while they waited. There was no view of the beginning of the line, so the female had no clue that he had directed them into the line to Gyarados Crusher: the scariest roller coaster in the park. Brock knew he would pay for it later, but again, it was all for fun.

"So," he began, "why do you hate roller coasters so much?"

The redhead shivered, but answered, "I don't know. Maybe because thy go upside down, backward, and in circles at very fast speed." Misty glanced up at Brock, "you could die instantly if the car went off the track! Have you _ever _thought about that? Huh?"

The man laughed, "You are such a drama queen, Mist," He took a lick of his ice cream. "Those things are inspected every two hours. There is nothing to worry about." Brock didn't have to look at Misty. He could feel the death glare she was giving him. Those aqua eyes glaring at him: trying to figure out how she could mess up his face.

"I hate roller coasters just as much as bugs."

"Oh, I really doubt a giant hunk of metal is worse than I gross little bug-"

"Stop_ bugging_ the little lady." Brock was cut off by a much too familiar voice behind him.

Misty and Brock both turned around and noticed a spikey brunette walking towards him. Three girls, one blonde and two raven haired, paraded around him as if he was the latest pop star. Anyone could see the hearts forming in their eyes. The redhead's eyebrow tilted upwards, "Gary?"

Ash's former rival barged through the line and stopped between the two gym leaders. Brock saw Gary give Misty a killer smile he probably gave attractive girls 24/7. The older man knew what was coming next; just by the way he gazed into her eyes. Anyone could tell that this wasn't going to be just a friendly chat.

"Hey, Scarlet!" he greeted. Gary shifted more towards the water trainer.

Misty slightly blushed and shifted away. Maybe she knew what Gary wanted. "Um, hey, so what are you doing here?"

"I was just walking around and seen you two arguing. Not like I would expect anything different, but I thought I should break up your fight anyway." Gary shrugged and flicked some brown locks of hair out of his eyes.

Brock finally spoke up, "it was just a little tease fest, no big. It happens all of the time." For some reason, the way Gary acted toward Misty felt Brock feel uncomfortable. Perhaps, it was because Ash, her boyfriend of two years had just recently passed away. Gary obviously wanted something from her, and that want would be too big for Misty to handle so soon.

"Sure, sure," he waved Brock off, almost completely ignoring him. He brought his hand back and placed it into his jean pocket. She smiled, "So Misty, I am sorry about Ash and all. If you ask me, he really didn't deserve you," Gary said and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I think you deserved more than a wimpy guy that probably begged you to date him. We all know that you guys wouldn't just start dating because Ashy-boy got a lucky shot at a kiss when you were drunk."

Misty's moth hung wide open at his words, but Brock paid more attention to her fist the clenched shut into a stern fist. He was going to get what was coming to him. Don't get Brock wrong, he was just as shocked at the words as his friend. Everybody knew that Misty and Ash's relationship was not a fluke. They honestly did love each other deeply. The breeder couldn't count how many times Ash came over and described their upcoming date. Brock took another lick of the chocolate and gazed at the scene before him.

"Let's face it, Scarlet. You need someone that you won't guilt you into a relationship." He came even closer to Misty, which made her fist rattle from the tension.

To keep herself from exploding, Misty breathed out, faked a smile, and looked at Brock. "I don't think so Gary. Not right now anyway," She walked forward, trying to come back to Brock.

He shifted in front of Misty, blocking her pathway. He said, "Why not? We could take a stroll to the Tunnel of Love. Come on!" Brock gripped tightly around his waffle cone. Who knew how it wasn't crushed yet. Brock just couldn't believe Gary was flirting with her.

"No thanks," she said, slipping beneath his arm and strait to the older man, "I am here with Brock today and we will lose our spot in line."

Gary glanced at Brock, who slightly smirked. He rolled his eyes and persuaded, "I am sure Brock wouldn't mind waiting in line for you. There is no line for the Tunnel of Love, so it will be done quickly. You will be back just in time to ride the roller coaster-"

"Roller coaster? I thought we were in line for the Ferris wheel," she said, giving Brock the 'I-will-kill-you-later' glare.

Brock shrugged and mumbled innocently, "Surprise?"

"Come on Scarlet," Gary said, making Misty bring her attention back to him. "You and me, alone, in the dark, in a small seat, in the tunnel of love. I know you want to." He came closer with his body towering over hers. "I will be much better than Ash ever was-"

Gary wasn't able to finish before clinging onto his aching head. Misty brought back her fist from punching him upside the head. Brock couldn't help but notice a small tear forming at the corner of her eye.

"For your information, Oak," Gary looked up at the sound of his last name. "Not only am I never going through a dark tunnel with you; I am going to make you eat those words someday. I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but Ash thought of you as a friend, and you are just insulting him. Why would I ever want anything to do with you?" She didn't let him answer before turning and running of into the crowd.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Gary complained, still holding his head.

Brock, who stared after Misty, brought his attention back to Gary, then his ice cream, then Gary again.

Before leaving the moron clenching his head, Brock made sure there was a mixture of chocolate and waffle cone in Gary's beautiful hair.

XXxxXX

"Gary is a fucking jerk!" Ash exclaimed, while pacing in circles around Melody.

The female rolled her sparkling blue eyes, "aren't you being a little melodramatic?"

Ash glared at the women, "how am I acting melodramatic?"

"Well, you are really freaking out over nothing," she replied, "Misty is really pretty and you, her boyfriend, is deceased. Of course guys are going to hit on her because you are no longer in their way."

Ash mumbled, looking for an excuse for Melody to be wrong, "but you don't know Gary! Sure he used to be my rival and we competed over everything: who had better pokemon, better toys, more battles, but I thought we were over that! I thought we were friends; I thought we gave up the completion. How could he possibly hit on my girl?"

Melody sighed and checked her nails in a lazy way. Apparently, she was bored of this annoying discussion. "Someone is over protective ….."

That comment received another cold glare from the pokemon legion. "I am not over protective. I just don't want my friend hitting my ex-girlfriend a week after my death! Especially if he is flirting like that!"

The brunette shrugged, "at least that Brock dude made him pay. It might take an hour or two to get that ice cream out of his hair; I'd say her got what he deserved."

Ash stopped in his tracks, realising something very important. Brock _did _stand up for Misty. Gary hurt her, and Brock wouldn't put up with that at all. Ash wouldn't put up with that ….. Brock was doing anything to help Misty's tragedy; he was acting like Ash would act. Right now, Brock was probably chasing Misty around the park. When he found her, he would probably try to comfort her. Soon after, Brock would crack a cheesy bug joke to tease her, which would actually cheer Misty up … Brock was a true friend. Ash looked back at Melody who had switched her eyesight to him in awe. He finally said, "That's because Brock knows when to do the best thing."

"Look, Ash," she tiptoed closer to Ash and glowered. "I understand that you really liked Misty. _Loved_ Misty, in fact, and no one blames you for your feelings about her now. Ash, I know it is harsh, but you are dead and you will have to-"

"Move on sometime, I know," Ash interrupted. He shook his head at the thought of feeling different about her. He was about to propose, for crying out loud. This journey would be on one difficult path. "Let's just find out who killed me."

A smirk grew at the tips of Melody's lips. "Perfect. We have a lot of work to do."

XXxxXXxxXX

Author's Note: And it ends there. I hope no one completely hates me for Gary acting like a jerk… :b. Anyhoo, Merry Christmas everyone! I was hoping that this would be an early Christmas to my friend *cough* AKetchum01 *cough*, but I wanted to get this chapter out there.

Review, Alert, and Favorite!


	6. Chapter 6

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm SO sorry for the late update. I have had a bad case of writers block when it comes to this chapter! Forgive me, because I feel SO bad about it. I bet everybody thought I discontinued it! Well, I am still writing!

XXxxXXxxXX

Brock searched all around his surroundings for Misty, who was probably weeping between two water rides at the moment. All over, there was a crowd of people in lines of all sorts. Whether it was a line to a ride, bathroom, or to the pizza stand that had a scrumptious aroma of melted mozzarella and crisp peperoni. Even with his tall figure, it was tough to hunt down the petite redhead that sat slumped on a bench near the Ferris wheel.

Taking a deep breath, he passed through the thick crowd before he could lose her again. After squeezing through an elderly couple who were probably crazy for going to an amusement park, he reached the bench and froze, gazing onto the women.

Her weak aqua eyes peered straight down at her knees that fell against each other. On top were her feminine hands that clasped loosely, inside was the pink love ball that held Ash's ring. Brock then moved his eyesight to observe Misty's face. Surprisingly, not one tear stained her skin. The tips of her pink lips glowered; that was all the he could see with her red strands hanging in front of her face, blocking his view.

Slowly, he sat down next to her on the wooden bench. For a few minutes they said nothing. Brock pondered on what to say, and how to say it, but he came up with nothing. He had never been very good at comforting people, especially women; unless, of course, it was for a very good cause. Even at this important time, Brock was at loss for words. After a while, he gave up and opened his mouth to apologise for the hundredth time.

"I'm fine, Brock," Misty intruded in a harsh yet soft tone. She rolled the love ball into her right and closed it tightly. Before shoving it into her jean pocket she spat, "Gary is just an ass."

He slowly nodded his head, "I know, but let's not let Gary take our fun away." Misty brought up her head to look at Brock and he smiled. "I will give you two choices: chase me around the House of Mirrors for leading you into the line for the scariest rollercoaster in the park, or force me to go on that wimpy Ferris wheel. If I were you, I would go with the first one, but it is your choice."

The redhead laughed and said, "Chasing you around some tricky mirrors does sound inviting." Brock's face lit up at the hint of his friend wanting to be violent like old times, but why did he sense a 'but' coming into the conversation? She tilted her head a bit, "_but, _I haven't been on a Ferris wheel since I was a kid."

Brock let go his held breath in defeat, "fine….. But if I fall asleep and fall out of the seat, it is entirely your fault…"

XXxxXX

Ash's slacked body slouched against a cotton candy stand located next to the ticket booth for the Ferris wheel. He was itching to find out what he had to exactly do to solve his mystery, but Melody was too busy pushing people over and scaring them out of their wits. The poor people: it would be pretty embarrassing to be pushed by no one, and have everybody think you're crazy. "Mel! When can you stop fooling around and teach me something?"

She turned after pushing one last teenage boy. Melody rolled her eyes and said, "Haven't you been watching? I have been teaching you a lesson for at least ten minutes!"

Ha laughed and stood a little straighter against the stand. "Ha, what have you been teaching that is so important? I am not planning to spend my spirit life haunting teenagers. Although, if Misty ever has kids ….. They would be the perfect children to scare and they wouldn't be able to hit me with their mini mallets 'cause I am already dead!" The trainer put his fingers together and let out a sinister laugh playfully.

Now nearly next to him, Melody gave him an annoyed glare for a short time, taking in his stupidity with each breath. "You don't get it, do you? I may be desperate to be lazy, but not desperate enough to stay on earth for centuries before the big guy decides to put my soul in another body. We have to fulfil this mission so I can get back into the clouds! I may like scaring people, but only on occasion. I cannot do it every day! Never!"

She would of have placed her hands around his throat if he hadn't dodged out of the way. "Well then, what _were_ you trying to teach? I don't see what."

Melody sighed and pointed at a pre teenaged girl sitting on a bench near the bumper cars, "go push her onto her feet."

Ash glanced over at the girl and back into Melody's eyes. He sighed, "You have to be kidding me. I can't do that, you know I will just fall through her."

"My point exactly," she said as a matter of fact, "and tell me, how are you going to fulfill your mission if you just fall through everybody?"

"I thought you were-"

"I can't do everything for you, Ash!" She covered her eyes with one hand to cool down, "Okay, okay. I understand. I should have told you what I was doing. But really, I thought you would have caught on when you saw me pushing everybody when you couldn't."

Ash shrugged at her partial apology, accepting it. "It's cool ….. But how do you do it? Like, touch people when you are dead, I mean."

"Simple. Just do it."

If it was possible to describe an anime sweat drop, this would have been the perfect time to use it. (A/N: I apologize! I had to add that in there.) "I could use a better explanation there."

Melody carefully shut her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. She instructed, "Okay first off, concentrate all of your strength into your hands. Make sure you push extra strength into your fingers so you can grab a hold of things." She checked Ash's progress, "yes, just like that."

A blue glow illuminated from Ash's hands. His power must have made the glow when it focused on one part of his body. "Mel … are you sure this is what it is supposed to look like?"

"Yep," she assured looking closer, "even though my glow is yellow. Then again, though, it is rare to find another angel with the same soul colour. But anyway, you can push that girl to her feet now."

Not certain that he should, he slowly walked behind the bench the pre-teen sat on. She innocently bit off small portions of the cotton candy she held in her hand. Her mouth had turned into a pink sticky mess, but if you saw through it, you could see the sweet joy in the girl. Ash knew he would regret it if made her look like a fool for no reason. His stomach churned as he sucked in in and pushed forward.

He fell right through the girl and face planted into the concrete sidewalk.

Why didn't it work? He did everything he was told; Melody even checked it over. How could he not do what he was supposed to do?

Ash could hear the quiet tap of Melody's foot hitting the pavement beside his head. He pushed himself up and sat patiently, observing his friends expression, trying to predict what he did wrong.

"You cancelled your strength out at the last minute, kid."

"Hey! Who are you calling 'kid'? We are the same age! Well, actually, I am older since I died more recently, so I was able to age more." Melody rolled her eyes and Ash stood up to tower over her. "And don't give me that look! I don't even know what I did wrong!"

"I already told you what you did wrong! You cancelled your strength at the last minute. Now build a bridge of your future regret, and get over it. Pushing a spoiled girl doesn't make you a horrible person."

He turned away from her and faced the Ferris wheel. A few people sighed as two ride inspectors made their rounds to the large wheel. It would be at least five minutes till they were done their inspection. "I would beg to differ-" his words broke off when he took a closer look at the ride inspectors. One was a mad with a fair length of lavender hair while the other, a woman, had a long mane of pomegranate red. Wait! How could he distinguish a color like pomegranate red? He could hardly tell the difference between hot pink and fuchsia…..

"Hello? Earth to Ash Ketchum?"

The trainer snapped back into reality and turned back to Melody. "Huh?"

"You are hopeless."

XXxxXX

Seriously? Just when they were at the front of the line? Misty slumped over in defeat as she leaned against the safety gate. She wasn't sure if it was possible to wait till the inspectors were done checking things out. "You have to be kidding me."

Brock shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. He joked, "You are supposed to feel safe when the inspectors come with their right before we get on." Misty showed no emotion, so he pointed to the male worker. "See? There was a loose screw in the seat we were about to sit in. We could have died if they didn't come just on time."

"Not helping Bur-oko," she said.

"Well, I tried", Brock said as the inspectors left. "But at least my little joke killed time, they are already done."

Misty shot up and waited for a man to open the gate. As he did so, she grabbed her friend's wrist and pulled him into the seat in excitement. The woman pulled down the safety bar; latching closed on her side of the seat. "This is going to be awesome!"

As they got higher, she slightly rocked the seat, just enough to make Brock cautious. "You, woman, are going to be the death of me someday. You are not supposed to rock these things."

The female gave him her signature glare and stopped rocking. She huffed, "you're saved by the rules… this time." The safety bar began to rattle and Brock glared back at her. "I swear, that wasn't me!"

The rattling became bigger. Brock yelled, "It's coming apart! Hold on to the seat instead!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Misty screamed as she tried to clutch the seat. "Wait!" the bar wasn't jiggling by itself. There was also a quiet beeping coming from where the rail was supposed to latch shut.

A loud bang of a small explosion sounded and Misty was forced from the seat. The gust pushed her stomach into the safety bar hard enough to brake free and swing across Brock and onto the left of the seat. Being winded, she quickly hugged her stomach with one arm and clasped to the steel with the other. Her legs dangled below her.

"Misty!"

XXxxXX

The sudden shriek made Ash gaze high up at the top of the Ferris wheel. Instantly, his heart stopped.

XXxxXXxxXX

Author's Note: OMG! I am finally done! I thank my readers for being patient with me and hope they enjoyed it. Remember, reviews keep me going!


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: Mwuhahaha….. Don't ask. I felt like giving out an evil laugh for some reason. I would say something, but I am sure it would be a spoiler. Hm …. Now to think about the story…. Shall I start with Ash and Melody or have Brock save the day …. Oh what am I kidding? I am not letting the man be a knight in shining armour. Go Misty! And now I will stop talking to myself. Enjoy!

XXxxXXxxXX

Maybe, she should have stayed home after all. Brock and she could have done something much better than get stuck in this mess. While they could have been fooling around in an arcade, Misty was fighting for something she didn't want to lose.

Misty clung to the railing with her life, unwilling to let go. She also tried not to struggle. The more struggling, the more sweat; more sweat, more chance of slipping and falling from eight stories. That would probably have as much thrill as the rollercoaster Brock tried to get her to ride, except that when the ride stopped, she wouldn't be able to stand up and run away afterwards. Instead, there would be smashed bloody body lying on the concrete.

So this this is how it is going to end, she thought sarcastically, I can just see the papers now. Young lady dies of falling off of a Ferris wheel by her home town. Her close friend, Brock Stone, witnessed an explosion that blew her off and led to the female's instant death … and don't forget to mention, her boyfriend of two years passed away two weeks before! Police think said female might have planted her bomb herself to take her own life….

"Misty!"

Brock was yelling from inside the seat and she instantly remembered his presence. He looked terrified; more than ever before. It terrified Misty to see him like that, even with her death 8 stories below. Terrifying to even assume what he was thinking. Was he scared to lose her? Or was he just terrified to fall himself. Misty shook that thought out of her mind. Brock, the most loving guy she knew, wouldn't think that way.

Back to the subject! Misty forced herself to think of a plan before she slipped. She brought her head up and looked nervously at the rail she latched onto. Easy, this would be not.

"Misty!" Brock yelped again. He hesitated to say something, only to be too speechless to speak. "Uh, um, don't let go!"

She let out a loud huffed breath and muttered, "Yes. Because I always wondered what it would be like to sky dive without a parachute…. Of course I am not letting go!"

"Then don't look down!"

Misty instantly brought her head back up, losing sight of the ground. "Great, now I am tempted!" She looked closer to where Brock was freaking out. It really wasn't that far away. She yelled over, "I will swing over to you! Get ready to pull me over."

He nodded and she shifted towards him. With each movement, a little safer she felt. She was going to make it. Brock nodded in assurance as she got one swing away. "Okay, one more time and I can pull you onto the seat with me, got it?"

"Ya," Misty quivered, "I think so." Her palms were beginning to soak in sweat and the last swing would be the most difficult. The chances of not slipping were low, but she wouldn't tell him that. For once, she had to get through this with little help. She slowly counted in her head …_ one_ …. _Two …. Three swing!_ Her body shifted towards the seat but her hands were no longer connected to the rail. Gravity pushed her down. _This is it._

Her body jolted just as she was ready to give up. She was still hanging far up, but she wasn't falling. Liquid fell onto her hair and she nervously looked up to see Brock grasping her arm with one hand and holding onto the back of the seat with the other. The panic made his face go red. Misty cringed realising that what she just felt was a man's sweat, but ignored it when she decided that there was still a chance to live.

"Misty," he called through gasps, "do you have Gyarados with you?"

She shut her eyes tightly in her agony. "No, Tracey was stopping by the gym today so I left him in the pool."

"Damn it," Brock hissed. "Onyx is in my pocket, but I can't reach his poke ball. I was planning on letting them go so they could catch you."

Misty silently swore.

"Oh jeez," Misty looked up again and Brock was twitching. "My cell phone is vibrating and it is _very _strong."

"Well, don't let go! If you do that, we will both fall!"

"Now, look who is telling me not to let go."

The phone was still vibrating and a red object appeared at the top of the same pocket. Could of it been the poke ball? "Brock, hold on a little bit longer. Let the phone ring."

"As if I have any choice," he whispered through his breath, grasping both arm and seat tighter.

The red object took its round nature and the other half of white started to show. Misty gasped for one more breath as the last vibration took place. What seemed like a poke ball fell from his pocket and cascaded down to the ground. _Please work!_

A puff of dust exploded from before and one by one, boulders grew up higher. A loud, ear bursting grown came from the rocks and Onyx's, err, welcoming face appeared. Well it was welcoming knowing that the beast was there to help, at least. Now Misty was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The hard place being the Ferris wheel, of course.

"Okay, Onyx, duck down and place your head beneath Misty," he ordered.

As if on cue, her hands slipped and she fell hard onto the pokemon's head. Misty wasn't too comfortable with her landing and rubbed her back side. "Ya, it would have been smart to bring Gyarados." Not like she wasn't grateful, but she would defiantly feel that the next morning.

From behind her, there was another thump. Brock appeared over her shoulder, relieved. "Thank you to who ever tried to call me, huh?"

"Totally…"

He laughed at his friend, who was still trying to recall what had just happened in the last ten minutes. It was incredible that neither of them had fallen off. Misty caught her breath and looked down to the ground where people cheered for Onyx. Realising that they were still far up, she cowered her whole body closer to the rock. "Brock? Can we please get down now?"

With a nod, he crawled over to Onyx's horn and grabbed a hold of it. He then reached for Misty to help her over to him. The closer she got, the more she hang onto him. "Hold on, it's going to be hard to find a place where we can get off." Misty did so more willingly than he had expected.

Why did everyday have to get more difficult?

XXxxXX

Ash fell to the dirt, exhausted. Well, actually, he had been aiming for a bench, but he was too tired to attempt to sit. All the energy he had before activating his angelic glow had vanished. Zip. Zap. Gone. Just like that. This angel stuff was too hard to get used to.

From above, Melody clapped astonished. She commented, "Bravo! You were actually listening to my lesson after all!" Her feet began to do the twist. "Score one for Mel-o-dee!" chanted her voice.

The pokemon master moaned at her happiness before whimpering, "Could you please turn down the volume? I feel like I am dying all over again and it is not fun."

"Hey, you are lucky you found that lost cellphone by the garbage can," she scolded, crossing her arms. "Oh, man, and you are even luckier that your powers didn't fail while dialling Brock's number! You are still a newbie at this Ash! You won't be able to strengthen your body parts that much yet. That is why we have to train so everybody will get through this."

"Ya, ya, I get it, Mel. "

Melody rolled her eyes, "but you don't get it! If you hadn't stopped in time, you could have been out for months! That means I would be stuck here for months too."

Ash rolled onto his stomach and looked up to her. He said, "Ya know? I liked you better when you were praising me. You might still have been loud, but at least you were happy."

Giving up on the cause, Melody dropped to the ground and crossed her legs. She said nothing, but gestured for him to take a rest in the middle of the pathway with people walking through them every few seconds. Strange as it is, as soon as Ash put his head down, he was left in total comfort. Maybe, being an angel, you could be comfortable anywhere at any time. Perhaps he would ask about this later, when he was less tired.

Moving away from the strange questions about angels, Ash finally got the chance to go through a few things.

One; he had to get used to this glow thing. The energy he had used up was much too high. If he was going to figure out who murdered him, it would be the best to find some way to generate his energy enough that he wouldn't run out. The question is: how would he do it? Not much thought had gone into even making the glow happen. It was so simple and quick; it would be hard to put thought into it now. Another thing he would get Melody to help with.

Second; did those ride inspectors have something to do with it? When they had been adjusting Brock and Misty's seat, Ash had felt a small feeling of insecurity, but nothing major. Then, when the explosion took place, he instantly knew that Misty was in trouble. Even before looking up to the Ferris wheel. This feeling was horrible, and Ash's instincts were close to never wrong. If he thought the inspectors had something to do with it, they probably did. Also, strange as it seems, they kind of looked familiar. Why was this?

And third; if the inspectors were involved in it, why would they target Misty and Brock? Or was it just a random act of violence? Maybe that was a more of a realistic idea. Neither of his friends would need to be assonated by someone, because there was no reason to be. Unless, of course, they had ruined an evil team's plans; which would make sense for Brock since he had hung around Ash for so long. Though, no one had gone so far to attempt murder so far.

Everything was too confusing at this point. It was too difficult to think straight.

Before falling in his slumber, Ash thanked god that Misty was okay.

XXxxXXxxXX

Author's note: Did that seem short? I think that was short. Not even a full four pages. I tried to make it longer but honestly, I haven't thought past this point . Oh well, you are the readers, not the writer, so deal with it. And in addiction, I am getting a new laptop tomorrow so I wanted to get this chapter done today. One less file to transport!

Now, I will stop ranting on about my life and leave you to be. Ya, know the drill.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the late update, but writer block has hit me …. Again…. But if I am lucky, the updates will be quicker now that it is summer. Maybe I will even finish this fanfic. Anyway, I wanted to mention that I do not own pokémon. I wish I did, but I do not. Oh, and by the way, I received a question asking if Ash was the one who called Brock. Yes, he did. I thought I made that obvious, but oh well.

XXxxXXxxXX

"Brock, you really didn't have to do this."

Misty took a seat on to one of four chairs in Brock's dining room. Spread out on the table, were plates of delicious looking food gleaming back in her direction. Tasty scents of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, and fresh bread lifted in to the air first, and then followed by steamed veggies and gravy. This is something that she had missed the most when Ash and Brock left for Hoenn; the delectable food she bit into each day. It would be a privilege to taste it.

"Oh yes I did," Brock assured sitting down across from her. "Since the trip to the park was a disaster, I thought I would make it up to you."

"By spending hours making a meal worthy of royalty?" Misty scooped a spoon of potatoes onto her plate, helping herself.

"Royalty, no" he admitted. "But for one of the best friends ever, yes."

Misty blushed and tasted some bread. The fluffy and warm texture was perfect inside her mouth, but after a swallow, she set it back on the plate. "This reminds me of so much. You know, before our families pulled the group apart." Her eyes drooped down.

"Yeah," Brock sighed. "You haven't tasted my food since traveling with May and Max, huh? How the hell did you make it through all these years?"

Both friends laughed, but the females had a tint of sadness bundled into it, which made the male sigh quietly.

"I miss those days a lot," she mentioned. Brock perked up in his chair at the idea of talking about the old times. "Walking all day through fields and forests, three perfectly cooked meals each day, and then chatting till we fell asleep under the stars. Each day we would meet a new person and get in some sort of trouble; the trouble piling up more each time." She leaned back and set her fork down. "When I heard that you were traveling again in Hoenn with Ash, I was a little jealous."

The chef slightly nodded his head. "Ash thought about you every single day, even if he tried to keep it hidden, you know?"

"Well, I kind of hoped that was the case, but it sure didn't seem like it when I visited for the fake togepi convention. He seemed happy enough without me."

"Is that really what you thought? Ash wouldn't shut up about that adventure for days, not like I minded it or anything. It was nice to talk about you when May and Max had finally met you." He laughed, "and if you wanted him to mention on how much he missed you, you should of smacked him over the head a few times."

This time she laughed normally.

"Okay, so Ash did miss me, but I am sure you were too interested in the pretty girls to miss me as much."

He raised an eyebrow and said, "You must be kidding me. What do you think is better: a girl in the appearance of a jealous girlfriend dragging me away, or a short kid that has to jump to pull on my ear?" Misty raised her own eyebrow. "Oops, that came wrong. "

"Ya, think? In fact, I don't think there is a way that could have come out right," Misty laughed.

Brock blinked in surprise. Had she seriously just laughed at that? Maybe there was something called over healing that he didn't know about.

The two continued to chat as they ate the delicious food. There discussions fell under different things such as gym battles and breeding studies. It was so exciting just to talk about something and not worry about the other in the process. Misty was enjoying herself and all bad thoughts had disappeared from her mind. Everything was just so peaceful.

As they finished their desert, which was chocolate cream pie, Misty started to notice something in Brock's eyes. His usual glitter was beginning to fade and they seemed different. Like the two friends feelings were exchanged. Just when Misty started to feel carefree, Brock seemed down and serious. She wasn't so sure about this until they were both done eating and he clasped his hands together to balance his chin on them.

"Misty, I really have to talk to you about something," Brock said.

The female moved around in her chair uncomfortably. It was silly to think that they could have so much fun, and not talk about something serious in the process, especially, with all the drama going around lately. "O-okay?"

He sighed and she could tell he had been holding something back. "Yesterday made me feel uneasy," he began, "with all the stuff that went down. It isn't normal, even for us."

"What are you talking about? Explosions, an obnoxious guy, almost dying; I'd say it is pretty normal for our standards." Misty tried shrugging it off. Honestly, she really didn't want to go close to the subject. Once Onyx had reached the ground, Misty still hadn't noticed. Brock practically had to pry her off of him and she ended up in a deep blush of embarrassment. The further way from the subject of yesterday: the better.

"Yes, but when was the last time our lives were risked?" Brock asked seriously.

She shrugged, "I don't know. Team Rocket has been really quite for the last few years, so the disasters have been pretty low. All we have had to deal with is Ash's publicity; nothing very big."

"Exactly," he pointed out, "so after all these years, we get attacked, two weeks after Ash's death none the least! Doesn't that seem strange to you at all?"

"Brock," Misty raised her voice. "For all we know, it all could have been an accident! Can we not talk about this?" She didn't show it, but she was shocked at herself for just yelling.

"How can we not talk about this, Misty?" He asked, straightening himself. "This situation is serious. If Team Rocket is back, then we have to be more cautious. Most gym leaders already have to be cautious enough due to their popularity, and you are one of them. You know how dangerous it can be. Tracey has told me stories from when Ash and I were in Hoenn and Sinnoh. If this is going to be a problem, maybe you should stay with someone."

"And those 'dangers'," she said sarcastically, "are why we have strong pokémon. There is nothing to worry about. Not to mention, as I said before, it was just one accident. Not like there was a bounty was put on my head."

Why couldn't this conversation just end already? The only thing worse than bringing up a day of embarrassment, was being tempted with chivalry. Growing up with three girls; having a guy worrying for her always made her feel a little edgy. Misty wanted to feel strong and independent, not like a little girl that had to be protected. That is why she always acted tough when she was a kid, when really, she was insecure.

"Uh, earth to Misty?" Brock leaned over the table to strengthen his words. "Someone blew up our seat on a Ferris wheel; _right _after a ride inspection where we were first in line! I am pretty sure that is a warning sign to be more careful."

Of course she knew she had to be more careful. Even a dense person like Ash would understand that, so why did they have to talk about it? Was it so hard to just move on and live life normaly, pushing away the disasters? So many things had been going on lately and Misty wished the world would freeze so she could catch her breath. Just a few moments and maybe these things would stop happening….. just a few moments.

"Brock, I just don't want to talk about this, okay?" she said looking down at the table. Her voice calmed down since she spoke last. This made her friend look over in concern.

"Mist?" Are you alright?"

"Ya," she stood up from the chair, "I just don't feel very well, that's all. I think I will go home now." Misty started to the porch to put on her shoes.

He followed her. "Mist. Misty!" he said trying to get her attention. She slid on one shoe. "Did I say something wrong? If I did, just hit me like you always do and I will apologise."

Misty slipped on her other sneaker and turned the door handle to go outside. Just when Brock thought she wouldn't reply, she muttered. "Just leave what happened yesterday alone. It will all be for the best." She pressed her lips together and escaped through the door.

XXxxXX

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Brock should have just left the subject alone," Melody ranted, watching Misty stomping off to her car in depression. "That is why he is never going to get a woman."

"I can't say I was ever any better," Ash said after yawning. He had only woken up about an hour ago at his grave. Melody had explained that when spirits fell asleep, their souls were transported back to their bodies, unless they had already reached heaven: another strange thing that made no sense.

"And that is because you still know nothing about girls. In the end, having a girlfriend doesn't mean a thing."

Ash ignored Melody's comment and mentioned one other thing, "but Brock is right you know? Everything that is going on is not normal in anyone's life, even if it is ours."

The female sighed in boredom, "haven't we gone over this more than a million times. Of course it is not normal; you were murdered. Got that? _Murdered." _She crossed her arms firmly, "Murder is not an everyday thing and that is why you are here to fix things. You have to find out who killed you!"

"And the way things are going, my killer isn't going to be found any time soon, Mel." It was true, though. Ash had been an angel for so long already and they had absolutely no leads. Except for that symbol on Blastoise's head, but he had still not told melody about that yet. He hadn't felt the need to yet.

A smirk appeared on her lips, "that is why we are going to get Brock to help us."

He rolled his eyes, "and how are we supposed to do that? Write a letter with my ghost hands telling Brock that I am stuck on earth? Good luck with that."

"Well there is one way we could do it," Melody said. Ash jumped at the sound of her agreeing with something he had mentioned. "But that would take up too much of your energy. You see, I have a better idea, but it is difficult and you will have to practice at it. I couldn't even do it for at least two months."

The male stood up straighter in denial, "if you took you that long, I won't be able to do it any sooner! Melody, in case you haven't noticed, I am not the smartest kid in the class!" Ash gulped when he noticed that he had just admitted to his lack in intelligence. "I mean, I can't learn hard stuff really fast!"

"Oh my Arceus, kid! One, I already knew you IQ was less than a slowpoke's and two, you don't even know what you have to do!"

"I am not a kid," he claimed, "I am twenty five years old! And the way you make it sound, whatever you are going to teach me is going to be very difficult!"

"Well the way you act, no wonder I see you as a child." Were they seriously having this fight? Melody sighed, cooling her steam. "Okay, enough yelling. We have to start working on the next lesson."

"Which is?"

Melody smiled, "we are going to have a little chat with Brock, and you are going to use your voice."

XXxxXXxxXX

Author's note: Yippee! I am finished and now I can work on my gyarados oneshot and my luckyshipping oneshot without feeling guilty.

Oh oh oh! And has anybody noticed that Melody doesn't know that Ash was going to propose to Misty yet? Or does she and I am not attached to this story enough to know that? Gah! I am supper hopeless -_-'. I guess that means I have to read back… oh joy.

Anyhoo, favourite and review!


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